Radiohead Put Out Something Great for the First Time in Nearly 10 Years

“Holy shit, this is a lovely track” was not something I thought I’d say about Radiohead in this decade and yet I’ve said it twice today. Aside from last year’s “Burn the Witch,” I haven’t liked anything the band has done in the 10 years since In Rainbows. In fact, some of the shit they’ve put out after has made me go back and realize that much of stuff that they had done prior really wasn’t that great neither. However, there’s no question that out of all of their discography, OK Computer is an eternal album. It sounds just as good at the age of 27 that it did when I was 17.There’s a reason this clip is as funny as it is: it’s fucking true.

So with the 20th anniversary release of OK Computer, aptly titled OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017, the band has remastered the original LP and given us a few unreleased tracks as b-sides. This being Radiohead, a number of hardcore fans have had these as bootlegs for years, but the band has finally officially put some of these out.

I don’t know what else to say except that these are some of the best tracks that I’ve heard from the band in years. Yes, they’re old, but so fucking what? Hearing “I Promise” or “Man of War” makes me want to do something with a Radiohead song that I haven’t done in years – push the replay button. Why can’t all new Radiohead albums sound like this? Give us back these guitar sounds, Jonny! And tell Thom to dump the whole “I’m making dance music for people who can’t dance” schtick he’s been pulling for sometime now. In all seriousness, my secret hope is that revisiting this album does for Radiohead what revisiting Ladies and Gentlemen, We’re Floating in Space did for Spiritualized – make them put out another great record like J Spaceman did in 2012 with Sweet Heart, Sweet Light. Then again, Spiritualized hasn’t stopped putting out amazing records so they have a leg up in that race.

OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017 is available fucking everywhere. You can check out the record via Spotify below. I’ve also attached the two new music videos that they put out below. Dig in.